Japanese former Olympic swimmer, Daichi Suzuki, has been announced as the head of a brand new, yet-to-be-named national sports agency launching on October 1st of this year.
The role within the Japanese government will be primarily focused on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, but Suzuki will also be heading up coordinated efforts aimed at increasing the concept of the “power of sports.” The agency will fall under the government’s Sports and Youth Bureau and will include five departments. A budget of 36.7 billion yen ($301 million) has been requested for fiscal 2016. (Asian Review)
48 year-old Suzuki earned a gold medal in the men’s 100m backstroke at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, and has served as the head of Japan’s Swimming Federation since 2013. Of his new role at the sports agency, Suzuki says humorously, “Although I used to swim backwards, I look forward to giving it my all.” (Asian Review)
According to Toshiaki Endo, the minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympics, “The agency is here to help the public enjoy healthy, culture-filled lives.”
Along with Suzuki, other candidates considered for the position included Supreme Advisor to the Japan Football Association, Saburo Kawabuchi, Vice President of the All Japan Judo Federation, Yasuhiro Yamashita, and the Japanese Skating Federation’s Seiko Hashimoto.
The guy who matched Berkoff on his blast-off, and then finished strong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnjAfDaVkmY